


Happy Together

by helsinkibaby



Series: Together [2]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Het, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2018-12-19
Packaged: 2019-09-23 02:45:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17072006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: Post “Better Together”, Nick and Ellie go on their first date.





	Happy Together

**Author's Note:**

> Someone asked me for Nick’s POV during “Better Together” so this is a bit of that and a bit of a sequel.

“So. You and Ellie.” 

Nick stops dead with his hand halfway raised to the pad of the NCIS vending machine. For a second, he wonders if tiredness over this case has finally made him crack, if he’s hallucinating Tim’s voice and those words. But when he looks around, there is his team mate and friend, Timothy McGee, a cup of (pretty terrible) instant coffee in his hand and a curious expression on his face. 

“Seriously, man, don’t you start.” Nick doesn’t even bother trying to keep the exasperation out of his voice. “I already had DiNozzo on my ass the entire way back from NSA headquarters; I don’t need you doing it too.” 

Seriously, he thinks, this is why he keeps his personal life away from his work life, in so far as he can. It’s because he works with a team of gossips and busybodies. It’s bad enough on those rare occasions when he has an honest to God date. But he and Ellie are just friends. 

Just friends who sit beside each other at their kids’ soccer practice every week, who occasionally eat dinner together with their kids. Who talk on the phone every night once those kids are in bed, and when he couldn’t talk to her a couple of nights ago because of work and this damn case, he’d felt antsy, like he was ready to crawl out of his skin, like an addict jonsing for his next fix. 

Tim doesn’t know half of that but he still cocks his head as he looks at Nick. He’s evidently been taking lessons from Gibbs because anyone else would say his face was completely neutral. Nick, on the other hand, can read the disbelief clear as day. “Look,” he says, “I’m not trying to DiNozzo you here-”

Nick takes a leap of faith. “But you have Delilah at home, squeezing you for information.” 

Tim’s smile is confirmation enough without the words, “At home, on the phone,” added to them. “I think she’s just pissed that she never thought of introducing the two of you herself.” 

“You do know there’s nothing going on, right?” 

Nick’s not quite sure he believes that himself; Tim definitely doesn’t. “Is that why you took her daughter to a school dance? A daddy daughter dance?” Nick opens his mouth to reply but Tim beats him to it, holds up a hand. “And no, I did not tell Tony about that. But if that’s where you guys are, that Ellie’s letting you do that... I mean, Jess is so shy...”

“Shy? Jess?” Nick knows his voice has gone up at least an octave but he thinks it’s well deserved. In his mind’s eye, he can see Jess, all blonde ponytail flying as she laughs with Mila, the wicked smile on her face as she plays with Snapchat filters on Ellie’s phone, the absolute cackling that floats downstairs when they’re playing together in Mila’s room. “You sure you got the right kid, man? Jess is the furthest thing from shy.” 

Tim has moved from disbelief to outright scepticism. “Delilah and I met her when we were grocery shopping one day. She literally hid behind Ellie and wouldn’t even look at me.” 

Nick blinks. “She must have been a lot younger,” he tries and Tim shakes his head. 

“It was two months ago.” 

Nick is surprised at that because from the very first time he’d met Jess, she’d been nothing but a ball of energy. “I guess because I’m her best friend’s dad...” he says, his voice trailing off when Tim doesn’t look like he’s buying what Nick is selling. 

Nick can’t really blame him. 

“But a daddy daughter dance?” 

Tim is still stuck on that and Nick’s not so sure it’s not really Delilah talking. He is sure that every word he says is going back to her. Sighing, he turns back to the vending machine, selects the most sugary confection he can find. He needs it, for a whole variety of reasons. “It was Mila’s idea.” He’d said as much to Ellie and that was the truth. “She came home from school that day upset, because Jess was so upset over it. She told me that Jess was crying at school. Told her that her daddy lived in England and that he doesn’t want her and doesn’t love her because he never calls her.” He remembers Mila’s face, tears rolling down it, remembers how his stomach twisted with rage at the idea of Jess being so upset, to say nothing of the situation that had caused it. Tim’s face shows his sympathy and Nick adds quickly, “I didn’t tell Ellie any of that.” Because he’d known how much it would hurt her to hear it and he wouldn’t do that for the world. 

“Of course.” 

“So Mila’s there, bawling crying, looking up at me with those big sad eyes...” Sofia’s eyes, he thinks, although he doesn’t say it out loud. He could never refuse his wife anything when she looked at him with big sad eyes like that. He’s even more of a sucker when it comes to his daughter. “And she asks me if Jess can come to the dance with us. I mean, what could I say?” 

“But Ellie agreed.” There’s a subtle edge of Tim’s question that Nick chooses to ignore. 

“Ellie would do anything for Jess,” Nick reminds him. “Even bring her to soccer practice when she barely knows what shape the ball is.” He can feel the smile on his face, hear it in his voice as he remembers his first meeting with Ellie. 

“Right.” Tim’s voice is flat but his eyes are dancing. He’s noticed the smile too. 

“Look, our kids are friends. Ellie and I are friends. We have similar lifestyles, similar jobs... she gets what my life is like.” 

“And has evidently become a part of it.” Nick can’t deny that. “I’ll just also point out that everything you just said about Ellie, apart from the kids thing? You can say it about me and Delilah. Or Tony and Ziva. We were all friends first, Nick.” 

Tim is being very sincere, very understanding. Which demands that Nick be the same, which pulls a sigh right from the depths of his soul. “It’s complicated.” 

Tim shakes his head. “It’s really not. Besides...” He grins broadly. “Have you ever thought that with everything you two do, you’re basically dating already?”

As a matter of fact, that thought has crossed Nick’s mind. More than once. He’s suddenly very glad that Tim doesn’t seem to know about the bunch of flowers he’d brought for Ellie the night he’d taken Jess to the dance. Or about the photograph that Jess had snapped of him and Ellie later in the diner while they were waiting for ice cream, the one where she’s smiling at her daughter and he’s looking at her, wearing his heart on his face. 

“You know Delilah is definitely having an influence on you,” he grumbles instead of admitting any of that. “And I’m not so sure I like it.” 

It turns out Delilah is having an influence on more than just Tim though, or maybe his entire team is just really invested suddenly in his personal life. Because the next day, when Ellie uncovers a lead on the case, when he brings her to headquarters so that she can brief Gibbs personally - because he can just about understand half of it - it seems like everyone wants to catch a glimpse of her. When they first get there, Tony makes a smart remark about the two of them having breakfast together - though Nick chooses to be grateful that he’d left it at that because Tony has said far worse over the last couple of days. Reeves pops his head up from the international desk, spins some story about MI5 being interested in Kasir too. He also wastes no time in flirting with Ellie, purposely to make Nick’s hackles rise. It works too. Jimmy and Abby invent the flimsiest of pretexts to enter the conference room where she’s working and while Nick would expect it of them, Ducky getting in on the act surprises the hell out of him, especially when he lays on the charm with her even more than Reeves had. 

But in the end, it doesn’t seem to matter. 

Because when the bad guy is in custody, he’s the one who ends up alone with her, standing in the NCIS elevator about to drive her back to his car. 

And he knows, like he knows his own name, that he’s not ready to say goodbye to her yet. 

"So, I may have promised Mila that once this thing was all wrapped up, I'd send out for Case Closed Pizza." He grins, because it won’t be the first time she’s had dinner at his house, but he usually cooks. There’s no way that’s going to happen tonight. "You and Jess want to join us?"

Ellie leans back against the elevator wall, looking almost as tired as he feels. "I would like that," she says. There’s a small smile playing around her lips, but she’s more hesitant than she usually is. "If you're sure you're not too tired."

He is tired. Bone tired. So tired he could sleep for a week, easy. 

But that doesn’t matter. Not when it comes to spending time with her. 

"I will never be too tired for you and Jess." The words leave his lips without him having to think about them but once they’re hanging in the air between them, he realises that he means every word. 

Ellie must recognise that, because she looks a little taken aback. “Well then...” She sounds almost breathless. “I’ll meet you at your place.” 

True to form, the second Ellie’s car pulls up, Mila is wrenching the door open and she and Jess are sprinting up the stairs to her room. Nick hears Ellie’s quiet laugh, hears her footsteps coming down the hall, into the kitchen and he’s turning, holding out a beer to her when she steps inside. They don’t usually drink when they’re here like this, but he figures they’ve earned just one. Besides, he’s ordered enough to feed an army, she’ll have plenty of soakage. 

Which turns out to be the last thing on his mind once she accepts the beer from him. Because when her fingers brush against his, a tingle of electricity shivers up his spine. He’s felt it before with her, but not so strongly, strong enough to make his breath catch as his eyes fall to her lips.

The next thing he knows, they’re standing close enough to touch. Not only that but he’s actually touching her, his free hand on her waist and they’re leaning into each other, so close that he can feel her breath on his lips...

Which of course is when the damn pizza guy decides to ring his doorbell. 

Nick’s not a man usually known for his patience but not cursing loudly is something he thinks he should be commended for. The only thing making it slightly bearable is that everything he’s feeling is mirrored exactly on Ellie’s face. 

But any irritation that he might be feeling fades over the course of dinner as he finds himself sitting beside Ellie, their two daughters opposite them. Tired as he is, tired as he knows Ellie is, it’s a meal of fun and laughter, Jess and Mila telling them all about their days at school, expressing amazement that Nick and Ellie had ended up working together to catch the bad guys. Jess’s eyes are wide as saucers when he tells her that her mom is a hero, that they couldn’t have solved the case without her and Nick grins as Ellie looks down at her plate, her cheeks tinged pink. He has the strongest urge to reach out, cover her hand with his own and stopping himself takes more willpower than he knew he possessed. 

It strikes him then, forcefully, that he wants this. Wants nights with the four of them around the table together, their daughters’ laughter ringing in his ear, Ellie’s hand in his, as warm as her eyes. He wants the four of them to be a family and he realises that he’s wanted that for a while now, without even realising how much. 

And because he’s a man of action, once he knows that, he can’t not do something about it. 

So, that night when their kids run upstairs after dinner, when he and Ellie move into the living room with coffee, he lays it all on the line. Takes his hand in hers and admits his feelings, pulls her into a kiss. 

The first kiss leads to a second and a third and countless more, leads to his hands under her shirt and her arms around his neck, a breathless smile on her lips as she smiles up at him. “I really wish that our girls weren’t upstairs right now,” he tells her and she agrees with him. Just like she agrees to go out to dinner with him, an actual date type dinner, just the two of them, no kids. 

He can’t wait. 

And for once, he doesn’t have to wait that long. Only a couple of days in fact because that Saturday evening, his sister Lucia agrees to take Mila and Jess for a sleepover so that he and Ellie can go out. Mila can’t wait and while Ellie admits some worries about Jess being shy with someone new, it turns out that Mila has regaled her with enough tales about her cool older cousin, Amanda, that she’s wildly enthusiastic about the prospect. 

Nick’s a pretty big fan of the idea too although he knows Ellie might have some reservations. “I know it’s a lot,” he says when they’re snuggled up on the couch together as the girls play upstairs. “Meeting the family on the first date...”

Ellie stretches her arm out, studying their joined hands, the way their finger are tightly laced together. “Is it really our first date?” she wonders and he tilts his head in acknowledgment. He knows exactly what she means but still, there are still some conventions that must be upheld. 

“First official date,” he counters and Ellie grins up at him, presses herself just a little closer. 

“Besides,” she says, “when it comes to meeting the family, you do know I have three older brothers, right?” Nick gulps, as he thinks he was meant to, and she chuckles softly. “Not too late to back out, Nick.” 

She says it in a sing-song, teasing voice but his answer is completely serious. “Yes it is,” he says and when he kisses her, they don’t talk for a while after that. 

On the night in question, he arranges to Ellie and Jess up at their place, the plan being that he’ll drop them to Lucia’s, then come back to collect Ellie. It doesn’t go to plan though, because when he knocks the door, it’s Jess who pulls it open, pulls Mila towards her room as she calls over her shoulder, “Mom’s almost ready!”

The two girls disappear in a flurry of giggles and Nick wrinkles his nose. “Ready?” He says it more to himself, then raises his voice in the direction of Ellie’s room. “I thought I was coming back to pick you up.” 

“You were.” He can picture the almost rueful purse to her lips. “But Jess wanted to see what I was wearing.” The bedroom door opens. “And she may have had some advice.” 

She might continue talking after that, Nick honestly doesn’t know. Because he’s spent the last few months getting to know Ellie but the thing is? He’s only seen her in casual clothes. At soccer practice she’s in jeans and a shirt, running shoes on her feet, no make up, her hair usually pulled back into a ponytail. Even at work during the week, she’d worn a jumper and faded blue jeans, chunky black boots completing the look. 

He’s never seen her look like this. 

The dress is simple enough, black and cinched at the waist, sleeves made of a lighter, almost see through black material. The skirt, however, barely skims the top of her knees, revealing a killer pair of legs that were never so much as hinted at under the jeans he’s so familiar with. A pair of scrappy sandals helps show them off, as well as adding an inch or two to her height. Her hair is loose, flowing in gentle ringlets over her shoulders and he’s always loved her eyes but whatever she’s done to them with makeup has him swallowing hard, has his breath catching in his throat. 

He really, really wishes their girls weren’t in the next room right now. 

“Wow.” 

Only when she blinks does he realise he’s spoken aloud. That’s when a slow smile spreads across her face. “Too much?” she asks but he knows from the twinkle in her eye that she doesn’t really mean it. 

“You look amazing,” he tells her honestly and her cheeks flush pink. 

“You don’t look so bad yourself,” she says, unashamedly checking him out. He resists the urge to preen, even if he knows that he does look good - it’s hard to go wrong with a nice suit and white shirt. Her eyes narrow with what he knows to be a questioning look. “No tie?”

“I don’t own a tie.” He’d never liked them, and the only time he’d bought one had been for Sofia’s funeral. He burned it the next day while Mila was napping. He wonders if that’s too blunt, softens it with, “Just not my thing.” 

If Ellie thinks his words are unusual, however, she doesn’t let it show, just nods as her eyes linger on the collar of his shirt where the top buttons are undone. “Fine by me,” she says and instantly her cheeks darken some more and she bites her lip and he realises he has to get them out of there right now. Otherwise kids or no kids, he’s going to kiss her and if he kisses her, he’s not going to want to stop. 

He settles for reaching out, taking her hand in his and lacing their fingers together. “You ready?” he asks. It’s entirely possible he’s not just talking about their date. 

Her smile gets even wider, something he would have said wasn’t possible. “Let’s go.”

Somehow they manage to get two excited seven year olds into his car and he makes short work of the drive to Lucia’s house. Once there, Mila and Jess are out of the car like a shot and thankfully Amanda is familiar enough with her little cousin’s behaviour on sleepovers that she’s got the front door open before Nick has turned off the engine. He blesses his niece’s good sense and makes a mental note to slip her a few bucks tomorrow morning. When she greets the two girls with “Say goodbye to Nick and Ellie... we’re going to make hot chocolate in the kitchen,” he ups the figure he was thinking of by quite a bit. 

Of course, once hugs are given, that still leaves Lucia and George standing in the foyer with them, a knowing smile on his sister’s face. The knowledge of the million and one things she could say has him fighting back a gulp; it’s something of a relief when she simply says, “It’s nice to finally meet you, Ellie... Mila has told me so much about you.” 

“She has?” Nick and Ellie say the same question at the same time, then look at each other in surprise. 

It makes Lucia laugh, and George looks to be fighting a losing battle against a smile of his own. “Oh yes. She’s quite taken with you and Jess... I think she thought this day would never come.” 

Ellie’s cheeks flame scarlet. Nick’s aren’t far behind. “You’re trying to tell me my kid’s a busybody like her aunt?” He’s half teasing, half not and Lucia gives him a look that reminds him of their grandmother when she was about to ruffle his hair. 

“I’m trying to tell you she wants you to be happy. Preferably together. We all do.” She’s smiling but her eyes are serious and Nick can read in them all the words she’s not saying. A lump rises in his throat and maybe Lucia sees that because she says, “You two should get going; you don’t want to miss your reservation. Ellie, we’ll see you again soon, I’m sure... we can all have dinner together here, get to know one another properly.” 

Nick’s hand tightens on Ellie’s - and he’s not sure when exactly he took it - but she’s smiling and she’s relaxed, not tense. “I’d like that.” 

“I have all sorts of baby photographs of Nick,” Lucia begins and Ellie literally lights up. 

Nick has heard enough. “So it was nice to see you, sis, kiss Amanda for me, bye.” 

He wonders if Amanda will burn those pictures of he trebles the amount of money he was planning to slip her. 

The date itself is everything he possibly could have wanted it to be. A nice restaurant, good food, the conversation flowing as easily between them in that setting as it does around the table in his dining room. Her hand warm in his across the table, a hundred reflections of candlelight dancing in her eyes. A feeling of contentment, of certainty, that he hasn’t had in a very, very long time. 

He doesn’t want the night to end. 

When they arrive back at Ellie’s place, it seems she feels the same. When the car stops, she looks at him, head tilted, her smile suddenly unsure. “Would you like to come up?” 

He takes her hand in his, raises her knuckles to his lips. “I would love to,” he says. 

And the thing is, he’s fine with them taking things slowly; after all, it’s served them well so far. He’s willing to go at her pace, however slow or fast that might be. Sure, he has a preference, but he’s not going to push anything. 

So he walks her to her door, helps her off with her jacket and hangs it neatly on the coat rack, hangs his up beside it. When he turns to look at her, she’s standing close to him and before he can speak, she closes the minuscule gap, lays her palms on his chest and draws in a deep - and he can’t help but notice, shaky - breath. “I’m trying not to overthink things here,” she says softly and she sounds more hesitant than he’s ever heard her. “But... it’s been a while.” 

He knows Ellie, knows how hard it would have been for her to admit that. So he gives her his best reassuring smile, covers her hands with his and, once again, raises her knuckles to his lips. “We can go as slow as you want,” he promises. “If you want me to stop, just say the word.” 

“Nick...” Her voice is a ragged whisper. “I won’t want you to stop.” 

He figures there’s no way she can say something like this and not expect him to kiss her. So that’s exactly what he does; threads one hand through her hair and pulls her close, slants his lips across hers and lets himself get lost in the touch and the feel of her body pressed against him. He keeps it slow, like he promised he would, but it’s no less passionate for that and by the time they break apart, they’re both breathing hard. Her pupils are black, blown wide and he’s sure his are no better. 

He pulls in his own shaky breath but it’s Ellie who moves first, lacing her fingers through his and leading him into her bedroom. 

He’d thought the night up to that point was everything he could have wished for. 

It gets better. 

When he wakes up the next morning, he’s lying on his side, Ellie curled up against him, her back to his chest, his arm around her waist. Her breathing is still even and steady and he knows that, like him, she doesn’t get to sleep late very often, that he should leave her as she is. 

But the temptation to press his lips against her shoulder blade, just for the simple pleasure of tasting her skin, is too much. He can’t be sorry that he did it either, not when she lets out a sleepy moan, presses herself back against him. His body reacts in a way that is totally involuntary and entirely inevitable and when Ellie looks back over her shoulder at him, when she smiles a smile that is slowly and knowing and deliberate, he knows exactly how the rest of the morning is going to go. 

He’s not complaining. 

Much later, they’re lying quietly together, her head on his chest, his fingers in her hair, legs intertwined. He kisses the top of her head as her free hand traces patterns on his chest. “Happy?” he asks her and he doesn’t need an answer in words, not the way she’s smiling up at him. 

“Yeah,” he says instead, kissing her again. “Me too.”


End file.
